The remodel of the Dallas County Courthouse is imminent, as the Board of Supervisors recently approved the contractor for the project.
Six companies submitted bids for the work, with the lowest being $359,500 from Trinity Construction of Des Moines. In addition to the low price, the contractor also promised the shortest construction schedule, with an estimated 160 working days for all phases of the project except for the new courtrooms. They expect to start shortly after the start of the new year, with work starting on the Clerk of Court and Juvenile Courts offices on the east side of the second floor. Shortly after that, construction will begin on the Treasurer’s Motor Vehicles Department, which is relocating to the east side of the first floor from their current offsite location. The final phase will be to move the Treasurer’s Tax Department and the Recorder’s Office from the west side of the second floor to the west side of the first.
Treasurer Mitch Hambleton says the shuffling of the offices at the historic courthouse has been a long time coming, and he believes it’s an important project for the County. “The courthouse is really prime real estate. It’s a beautiful, beautiful building that I’m honored to go into and work out of each and every day, but it’s an expensive building in terms of what alternatives might be. So we’ve looked at how we can best use the space in that facility to meet the needs of the public.”
The furnishings for all the offices will be bid separately, as will the work on the two new courtrooms to be located on the west side of the second floor. Additionally, while it’s not directly related to the courthouse remodel, the Iowa Department of Transportation is continuing talks with the State Legislature on a new driver’s license station for Dallas County. Combined with the new Motor Vehicles office, Hambleton says a lot of strain and space concerns could be eased for his employees in both departments in the next year.